What is Environmental & Natural Resources Engineering?

Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering prepares engineers for careers in industries whose products are based upon biological materials or on applications for production Agriculture. Environmental and natural resource engineers apply their knowledge of natural resource systems and engineering to equipment design and assure environmental compatibility of practices used by production agriculture. The ENRE curriculum offers great breadth, with specialization choices in machine systems engineering and environmental and natural resources engineering. The emphasis is on fundamental engineering sciences and design when the product or process involves biological materials or the environment. Subject areas include computer-aided engineering, fluid power, finite element analysis, natural resource conservation, and engineering properties of biological materials. National and international careers include: product engineering, design and test engineers for equipment manufacturers, engineers with consulting firms and government agencies responsible for environmental quality, facilities design, safety engineering, forest engineering, and engineering management.

The ENRE program leads to a B.S. degree from the College of Engineering and is ABET accredited. Its unique strengths include: 1) career diversity, because your education includes the vital fundamentals that prepare engineers for a dynamic world; 2) the challenge of working with complex biological-based systems and on important problems; and 3) excellent salaries and work environments. The curriculum’s foundation is the Mathematical and Physical Sciences together with the Engineering science courses common to all Engineering curricula. Environmental and Natural Resource Engineers then specialize by adding Biological Science courses and departmental courses including: engineering design, mobile hydraulics, soil and water conservation, finite element analysis, off-highway vehicle design, and sensors and controls. Students may choose a specific area of specialization. Hands-on laboratories and personal access to the most advanced engineering workstation computer network in the country bring the student’s knowledge of advanced engineering tools to a practical level of utility.

In addition to an excellent technical education, agricultural engineers also learn communications, economics and professional ethics. The department’s relatively small size provides a level of personal attention not usually available at a major university.